Born into a family of celebrated artists and architects, Jiang Qiong Er grew up immersed in a world where art was inseparable from life. Trained from childhood under great masters of painting and calligraphy, she developed not only technical skill but also a deep philosophy of humility, generosity and creative freedom that continues to shape her work. Best known as the founding artistic director and CEO of Chinese luxury brand Shang Xia, backed by Hermès, she has dedicated her career to reinterpreting and revitalizing centuries-old craftsmanship, connecting heritage and innovation in design, art, and daily life. Today, Jiang stands as one of China’s most influential cultural figures, bridging tradition and modernity with timeless elegance.
You come from a remarkable artistic family. How has this shaped your life and career?
I’m very grateful I was born in a family where my grandfather was a great pioneer artist of his time and my father a very successful architect. My friends joke that I was born in the “soup of art and creation”. Whatever we did at home—from New Year celebrations to decorating the house—was always connected to art, always seen through an artistic angle.
From my father, I learned the passion of inspiration. He always told me that the day he could no longer create projects, dialog through architecture and live with passion would be the end of his life. He showed me the importance of creating with passion and never stopping to pursue big dreams. From my grandfather, I inherited the philosophy of how to be an artist: be humble and be generous. If you have these two, you can have a long-lasting life as an artist. He also left me books and wisdom on how to keep moving forward in time. So what I do today is not really a choice—it’s my life. I was born with it. That’s the essence of my existence, my fate.
What did you take away from studying under great masters like Cheng Shifa in painting and Han Tianheng in calligraphy?
I was six years old when I began following Master Cheng Shifa and Master Han Tianheng. This was the early 1980s, a very different China. My brother and I were selected by the Children’s Palace in Shanghai, trained by the best teachers, and our paintings were sent to international competitions. We even had our first dual exhibition in Beijing when I was six.
Becoming a student of a master was a traditional ceremony. You had to bow three times, serve tea to the master and his wife, and then it became a daily practice. Every day we wrote calligraphy, every week we went to their home to show our work. They analyzed, corrected and sometimes demonstrated.
But beyond technique, what they gave me was a philosophy of being an artist: human qualities like humility, generosity, the ability to listen, to enjoy being alone, to discover nature, to listen deeply from your heart, to spread emotions. They told stories, they guided us with simple words, and those lessons are what remain most precious today.
These teachings, along with my grandfather’s influence—he studied Western art in the 1920s and was a true pioneer—gave me endless energy and inspiration. What I create today is not just technique but a way of being: how to be free, how to go beyond, how to take inspiration from history and nature to create the future.
How did you convince Hermès to invest in Shang Xia? How did that collaboration begin?
Actually, I did not convince Hermès. It was a beautiful encounter with Patrick Thomas, then CEO of Hermès, and Pierre-Alexis Dumas, its creative director. We shared the same dream, the same passion, the same human values. It was never about an investment project at the beginning. It was about a passion to create a renaissance—a revival of excellence rooted in tradition, connecting the past to the future. That’s how Shang Xia was born. And it’s not simply about “Made in China”. It’s about “proudly crafted, proudly created in China”.
How did you approach the dialog between heritage and innovation at Shang Xia?
For me, the dialog between heritage and innovation is always passionate. The two most important elements in what I create—whether collections, objects or exhibitions—are time and emotion. When you touch the heart, you are touched in return. Emotion is crucial. And time is crucial, too: how to travel with this vessel of time from the past to the future and remain timeless. I try to create a particular style that connects the timelessness of the past with the timelessness of today and tomorrow. Why am I so passionate about this? Because I see it as a mission. If we don’t connect the past to the future, if we don’t pass it on, then it will disappear. And once it disappears, it cannot come back. So we must continue the story of history, not just repeat it, but create our own history from it.
Your work often engages directly with artisans and traditional crafts. How do you approach this process?
I have spent many years traveling all over China and other Asian countries to meet artisans and discover exceptional craftsmanship. The first step is always to learn. Every craft has amazing techniques, but also limitations. It’s important to understand both. Then comes the question: how can we use this craft? How can we twist it, go beyond it, make it dialog with other crafts or materials, reintegrate it into daily life today? I always challenge myself with three questions. Firstly, how to bring new functionality? When I began, 95 to 98 % of craftsmanship was decorative. Secondly, how to bring a contemporary, timeless style? And thirdly, how to create objects with emotion—because emotion is the most powerful, it’s priceless. I also ask artisans to give their very best, sometimes pushing them further than they thought possible. We experiment, we mix traditional and contemporary materials, we create dialogs across disciplines. This experimental spirit is at the heart of everything I do.
Looking back, what has sustained you throughout this journey as an artist and designer?
It always comes back to philosophy and human qualities. Technique is important, but it is secondary. What sustains me is humility, generosity, passion and freedom. These give me endless inspiration and energy. I believe an artist must be free, must listen deeply, must be connected with nature and with time. For me, being an artist is not a profession; it is my life.